This invention relates to a flexible packaging bag support unit and system embodying same. More particularly, the invention relates to a support unit for flexible packaging bags containing liquids and which is particularly designed to enable available storage space to be efficiently utilized whilst the contents of the bag are consumed in a progressive manner. The invention also relates to a system of packaging liquid products in which such a support unit forms an important part.
The packaging of liquids in flexible bags is becoming increasingly popular from various points of view. Firstly, packaging liquids in plastics bags is highly cost effective when compared to conventional rigid containers. Secondly, flexible bags having outlet valves collapse as their contents is consumed progressively over a period of time and this collapsing feature avoids the necessity for air, and thus oxygen, to enter the container to replace liquid withdrawn as is the case with rigid containers. Such oxygen invariably shortens the shelf life of the relevant liquid product by promoting oxidation which will generally result in spoilage of the liquid contents somewhat sooner than if oxygen were excluded.
Packaging of liquids in flexible bags generally assumes one of two different forms. In the one form the bag is packaged in a box in the so-called bag-in-box packaging configuration. Bags used in this type of system have an outlet valve, or an attachment base for an outlet valve, sealed, usually by welding, to the bag in a region adapted to be substantially lowermost in the operative orientation of the box. The box is usually provided with a removable or foldable panel so that the valve can project through the wall of the box for use.
This type of packaging operates extremely effectively and is ideally suited, in amongst other products, to the packaging of wine because air is excluded from the liquid inside the bag until substantially the entire contents has been withdrawn.
One problem with the bag-in-box packaging is that the bags and boxes are made with a height substantially greater than the depth or width of the package in order to ensure proper flow of liquid product out of the bottom, very much along the lines of a small tank. This shape is rather inconvenient from a storage point of view in that sufficient vertical space is not readily available in some storage situations, such as in refrigerators, for example. In such a situation generally only a top shelf has sufficient height available and then there is the problem of the box often being located at the back of the shelf thereby making access troublesome.
Also, the prefabricated bags having either a valve or an attachment base for a valve welded to the bag are relatively costly and, because of their prefabricated individual nature, are handled relatively slowly by a filling machine. Also, when the bag is totally depleted of the liquid product, not only is the bag and valve disposed of, but also the box. This represents a substantial pollution potential as well as a disposal problem.
In the second form of packaging utilizing flexible bags and which is commonly known as the xe2x80x9cfill and sealxe2x80x9d method, the bags themselves are formed by heat sealing the opposite walls of a tube of plastics material together at spaced intervals along the length of the tube whilst simultaneously filling the tube with liquid product. The tube may be formed as it is needed by welding two opposite edges of a strip together or it may have been blown as a tube.
This form of packaging is widely used in the dairy industry for packaging milk, in particular. The filling of these bags is extremely quick; the tubular plastics material from which the bags are formed is extremely inexpensive; and the machine which carries out filling and forming of the bags operates efficiently at high speed. Bags of packaged liquid are sold as such and the purchaser will usually cut off the corner of the bag and either pour the contents out, or the bag is supported in an open condition in a jug, for example. The resulting jug or other container has a similar disadvantage as regards storage as the bag-in-box described above.
Also, this treatment of the contents of the bag destroys the advantage achieved by the bag-in-box system where air is not able to contact the product in the bag whilst it is being progressively consumed. On the other hand, the pollution potential is substantially diminished in that only the bag need to be disposed of and no valve or box which would form an additional pollution potential or disposal problem is used at all.
It is an object of this invention to provide a support unit for a flexible packaging bag filled with liquid which will enable storage thereof to be more efficient from a space point of view. It is another object of the invention to provide a system including such a support unit as a part thereof.
In accordance with this invention there is provided a support unit for a liquid filled flexible packaging bag having a length, width, and thickness, the storage unit comprising a support panel adapted to support a liquid filled flexible packaging bag with its length in a generally horizontal orientation and wherein the support panel is adapted to support the packaging bag in an inclined orientation at least after a proportion of the initial content of the bag has been removed.
Further features of the invention provide for the support panel according to the invention to correspond generally in plan view to the length and width of the packaging bag; for the panel, when in an inclined orientation, to be inclined in the direction corresponding to the length of the packaging bag with said incline being downwardly towards a front edge of panel; for the panel to have upstanding sidewalls for locating a packaging bag between them; for the panel to be supported by a generally horizontal base; and for the generally horizontal base to have surrounding sidewalls and optionally an access lid.
Still further features of the invention provide for the panel to be either fixed as regards its inclined orientation but preferably for the panel to be pivotable about its front edge between a position in which it is substantially horizontal and positions in which it is inclined; for the pivotable panel to be biased towards its uppermost inclined orientation; and for the bias to be such that with a full packaging bag positioned on the panel the panel moves from a substantially horizontal position to progressively more inclined positions, as liquid product is consumed from the bag.
The panel is conveniently supported by a base either located on, or actually forming, the bottom of a box and wherein the front of the box corresponds to the front edge of the support panel with the length of the panel extending rearwards. The front of the box has one or more apertures or removable areas through which an outlet unit incorporating a valve may pass from a bag contained within the box to the front exterior. In order to maximise storage space within a box it is preferred that the support panel be pivotable as indicated so that substantially the entire interior of the box is available for a full packaging bag whilst the support panel pivots to an inclined position under the action of a suitable bias as liquid product is progressively removed from the packaging bag. The latter action may be achieved by providing a bias chosen to move the support panel to a progressively more inclined position in consequence of the removal of weight from the bag.
Alternatively, the box could be provided with a lid that latches or clips in its closed position with the bias of the support panel being overcome by a downward force exerted on the bag by the lid. In this case the liquid product is under a small pressure created by the biasing force pushing upwardly on the product which is thus xe2x80x9csqueezedxe2x80x9d to some extent between the panel and lid. A further alternative in this regard is to provide the lid with an oppositely disposed xe2x80x9cpressurexe2x80x9d panel biased downwards and pivotable about its operatively rear edge. In the latter case the packaging bag is effectively squeezed between the two panels. These arrangements are considered to be particularly appropriate in instances in which the liquid product is rather viscous or paste like.
It will be understood that in all cases the concept of the invention is to enable packaging bags to be stored generally horizontally and preferably with their length extending rearwards relative to a shelf to thereby enable such packaging bag and support unit to be stored on shelves having a relatively small vertical space available and to thereby utilize available space more effectively. The fact that the support panel is inclined towards its front edge, at least when a proportion of the liquid in a bag supported thereon has been removed, ensures that the liquid product flows towards the front of the bag at which an outlet unit is provided.
The invention therefore provides a system in which liquid product is supplied and stored in flexible packaging bags and whereby available storage space at a user level can be more effectively used. In so doing it is of importance that flexible packaging bags be easily and cost effectively provided with an outlet unit having a control valve and the present invention is therefore preferably employed in combination with the system described in my co-pending patent application of even date which claims the same priority as this application and which is entitled xe2x80x9cLIQUID PACKAGING SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS THEREOFxe2x80x9d.
That system includes an outlet unit having a control valve associated with it and wherein the outlet unit has an elongate outlet member which pierces a plastic wall of a packaging bag to provide an outlet valve in operative communication with liquid in the interior of a packaging bag which was previously devoid of any outlet or valve unit. It will be understood that the use of such an outlet unit greatly enhances the use of a support unit according to the present invention as the combination enables conventional plastic bags of liquids formed by a pair of spaced transverse welds across a plastics tube to be utilized for packaging a wide range of liquid products.
In order that the above and other features of the invention may be more fully understood various embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.